Automobile door lock



April 2", 1946.

c. o. LARsoN- AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCK Original Filed July ll, 1959 NVENTOR. Car/ 0; La son Palmas App, 2, 194s sabszauted for abandoned application sel-lal Np. zsasss, July 11, 193s. 'rua application .lappary 18. 1946, Serial No. 642,077 y Claims.

This invention relates to lock mechanism for automobile doors and its object is to improve the lock bolt and the exterior control therefor as well as the interconnection therebetween. Stated more particularly, it is a principal object of my invention to provide a hinged `as distinguished from a sliding-type bolt, thereby to obtain what may be termed a floating action of the bolt with appreciable reduction in the resistance encountered by the bolt in the travel thereof over the facing surfaces of the latching plate. It is a further and particular object, in relation to the exterior controlmfor the bolt. to provide, a handle which, through compression pressure operation, assures the greatest ease in the operation of releasing the latch and one which, in the peculiar manner of its engineering, Permits more advanced styling than has been heretofore possible. The present application is a substitute for an ab'andone'd application directed to like subject matter illed July 11, 1939, Ser. No. 283,859.

The invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.v

In the accompanying'drawing: l

Figure 1 is an elevational view illustrating, fragmentarily, an automobile doorprovided with lock mechanismI constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. l

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the approximate longitudinal median line of the lock, parts of the mechanism being shown in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on line 8 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail longitudinal vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

'I'he numeral 5 in the drawing denotes a car face disposed concentric to the axis of said pin and providing, as a rearward prolongation, a toe element I0" which is engaged by hook-forming terminals Il' of a sliding bar I4, said bar, as is conventional with automobile door locks, being controlled by a suitable lever (not shown) and operating as a meansglfor retracting the bolt from the inner sideof the door.

Operating independently of this inside control I provide an exterior control comprising a lever I6 fulcrumed intermediate its two ends, as at I1,

with one of the two lever arms I5, which functions as the actuating arm, being engaged by the fingers of the operator and with the other arm I8 finding engagement with the power end of a link 2li which in turn connects from .its drag end to a pin 2| passing through spaced ears provided to the rear of the bolt I0, the link being slotted as at 22. Designated by 28 are Springs which lie at opposite sides of the bolt shank and by the act of bearing against shoulders formed on the latter influence theboltfinto its latching posithreaded posts,v as j ,25 and 26, which extend through openings in the'outer wall of the car door and at the inside'oiv said' door are engaged by anchoring nuts to' fixedly' mount the handle with a complementing escutcheon 21 on the outer side of the door, the forwardly disposed post being hollow to permit of the passage therethrough of the elbow-shaped lever arm I8. The handle, forming a hand hold by which to apply compression pressure to the lever in opposition to a coil spring 28 seating within the recess, is or may be fitted with a key-operated cylinder-type lock 29 providing a lateral projection 30 movable by rotation into a notch of the lever arm I8, a position whereat the same interrupts bolt-retracting movement of said lever. Formed by the e'scutcheon is a cavity 8| to accommodate the fingers of the hand.

It will be apparent that the described parts may be modied in their construction without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim, is:

1. In mechanism for operating the latch structure of an automobile door lock, the door being characterized by inner and outer spaced walls of which the outer wall is provided with a pair of spaced openings and an aperture between said openings: an escutcheon adapted to nt over said outer wall and formed with end openings adapted to register with the end openings of the wall'and having a recessed part adapted to extend as a well into the center aperture of the wall; an arched handle providing threaded posts arranged to extend through said registering end openings of the escutcheon .and wallto receive, within the door,

anchoring nuts, said handle havinga longitudinalv d slot on its inner side; a lever mounted in the slot and fulcrumed intermediate its ends to the handle; a spring housed in the slot to therear of one of the arms of saidlever for influencing said arm directively from the handle; and means operatively interconnecting the other arm of said Jever to the latch structure of the lock for retracting the latter to release the door in response to the application of compression pressure from the ngers of the operator -to said first-named :arm of the lever, said nger-compressing arm of the lever being positioned in overlying rela- Ition to the well-forming recess of the escutcheon.

d 2. In mechanism for operating the latch structure of a door lock, the door having inner and zouter walls of which one of the walls is provided with a pair of spacedopenings leading to the `space between said walls: an arched handle longitudinally slotted on its underside and at each end of said slot providing threaded posts arranged to register with and extend through said `wall openings of the door for application of anto the application of compression pressure from the flngers oi' the operator to the slot-received arm of the lever.

3. In mechanism for operating the latch structure of a door lock, the door being chambered and providing an opening through the. wall of the door to the chamber: an arched handle longitudinally slotted on its underside and providing a threaded post arranged to register with and extend through said wall opening into the .chamber of the door for application of an anchoring nut a within the chamber, said post being hollow toA provide communication between the slot oi thehandle and the chamber of the door; and a lever received in said slot of the handle and having operative interconnection through said post to the chamber oi the door and, within the lat r, providing means arranged and adapted to operatively interconnect the lever with. the latch structure of the lock to obtain door-releasing actuation of the latch in response to the application of compression pressure i'rom the ngers of the operator to the slot-received lever.

4. Structure according -to claim 1, one 0L the threaded posts of the handle being hollow and accommodating the passage therethrough of the latch-connecting arm of the lever.

5. Structure according to claim 3, and an escutcheon providing an opening arranged to register with the wallv opening of the door and providing a cavity complementing the arch oiA the handle to accommodate the fingers of the operator in the application of compression pressure to the latch-actuating lever. CARL o LARsoN. 

